According to the NHL, no. Well, not exactly.
Colin Campbell, the executive vice president of hockey operations said this goal (Philadelphia's first goal of what was a 4-3 overtime decision) should not have counted.
Link to video.
The linesman blew a call. Briere was offsides and the play should have been dead. And that blown call lead to a goal in a very tight decision. That is what the NHL is saying.
"There's no other way to explain it but a missed call," Campbell told The Canadian Press in an interview. "We're as upset as Pittsburgh almost. It's a mistake."
Tony Sericolo is a veteran linesman with more than 800 games of NHL experience dating back to October 1998. He was among 40 officials—20 referees and 20 linesmen—selected to be part of the pool for playoff assignments.
The blown call could affect how director of officiating Terry Gregson makes staffing decisions later in the post-season, according to Campbell.
"There's always fallout," he said. "The referees and the linesmen are judged on the work they do as far as how they advance in doing games. If mistakes are made, no matter how difficult they are, there's got to be decisions made on who advances."
The play started a big comeback for the Flyers, who erased a three-goal deficit and beat Pittsburgh 4-3 in overtime. However, the Penguins refused to use it as an excuse for their collapse.
"That's not why we lost the game," coach Dan Bylsma said immediately afterwards.
Added captain Sidney Crosby on Thursday: "It affected the game, but at the end of the day worrying about it or thinking about it is not going to change anything. It's over."
Note that no one is blaming the video review system or the War Room. And why not? A goal was scored that shouldn't have counted. So why no protest?
According to NHL Rules, every goal is video reviewed. However, video review does not look at everything and cannot overrule certain things, such as offsides. Things like the puck being kicked in, puck crossing the goal line completely, puck hit with a high stick, and time expiration are all examples of things the War Room can consider when ruling on the legitmacy of a "good hockey goal." Offsides? Nothing they can do about it.
Will there be a challenge issued? Are the rules flawed? Should they be changed to review everything from the last faceoff till the goal?
I doubt it will go so far as to call for a faceoff to goal review because so much of hockey is opinion. Like a charging call or a boarding. Hooking. Whatever. It would be almost impossible to find a minute of any game that didn't have SOMETHING that violated a hockey rule. Take a look at the NSH - DET game.
Do not misunderstand. I think that the officials do a very good job for the most part and the system is not across the board broken. If they are consistant with their assessing of penalities of descresion throughout a game and season, then that's fine. When a player or team has no idea what to expect, that the bigger problem. Yeah, there will be a hooking call that isn't whistled here and there. But that's the trade off between a good hockey game and a technically correct hockey game.
All that being said, something like offsides is a black and white issue. It's not really up for debate. So I would be in favor of looking for any offsides plays that lead to a goal.
Even though I doubt that Sericolo will be in the lineup for Friday when the Flyers take on the Pens in Pittsburgh, I can only imagine the rain of boos that will decend on the officials as they skate onto the ice.
In other news, the results from Thursday night: San Jose defeated the Blues; the Blackhawks fell to the Coyotes; New York won over Ottawa; and Boston downed Washington. The only series yet to begin starts tonight as the Devils travel to Florida.
